Christ in all ages, from the very beginning, has believed and acknowledged the seven sacraments above-mentioned, and has administered them as means of grace to her children.

Q. 27. Are all obliged to receive the sacraments according to the need we may have of them?

A. Some of the sacraments are only intended · for particular purposes and states of life; and those only are obliged to receive them, who embrace those states, such as holy orders and matrimony; but the others are intended for the common wants of all Christians; and, therefore, all are obliged to receive them, otherwise the grace to remedy their wants will not be granted. For, as they are ordained by Jesus Christ as the means by which he bestows his grace upon our souls, and as the ultimate condition for this purpose, pre-supposing. all the other conditions required as dispositions on our side; and, as he is free master of his own gifts, and may require what conditions he pleases from: his creatures, in order to receive them, it is not enough that we perform some of these conditions, we must perform them all; and the sacraments being the last required, and which serve as the very instruments for bestowing upon us the grace intended by them, it is plain that the other conditions, without this, will not be sufficient, and, therefore, that it is absolutely necessary to receive the sacraments, where they can be had, in order to receive the grace annexed to them.

Q. 28. Why are so many ceremonies used in the administration of the sacraments?

A. To understand this, it will be necessary to explain the nature of ceremonies more particularly.

APPENDIX

TO THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL.

OF SACRED CEREMONIES.

Q. 29. WHAT is properly meant by a rite or ceremony?

A. A rite or ceremony, taken in its most general sense, is an outward action or sign, used by men either for promoting a becoming decency in the necessary intercourse of society, or for bringing to our mind the remembrance of some truth which does not fall under the senses, or for exciting certain affections in the mind of those who are present, or for testifying to others the affections of our souls. Thus, in all courts of justice, there are certain outward forms or ceremonies appointed to be observed, as necessary for carrying on the business done there with regularity and order. The ensigns of royalty in the king, the distinguishing robes and other badges of office used by magistrates, are so many ceremonies which bring to our mind the dignity of their station, and the authority with which they are vested, and excite in us the affections of respect and veneration due to their character. In common life itself, the outward actions of bowing or uncovering the head to one another, are ceremonies by which we testify our mutual regard and esteem; and the very rules of good breeding in company, are but so many rites or ceremonies, by which we express our respect for one another, excite and improve our mutual benevolence, and carry on the intercourse of life with proper decency and decorum.

Q. 30. Is the use of ceremonies necessary in human life?

A. According to the present providence under which we live, and the frame and disposition of human nature, the use of external rites or ceremonies is so absolutely necessary, that it is impossible to discharge the ordinary duties of society, whether civil or religious, without them.

Q. 31. What is meant by a sacred rite or ceremony?

A. A sacred ceremony is an outward action or sign, ordained by the Church of Christ, to be used in the external exercise of religion; and chiefly for three reasons.

(1.) For the greater decency, and for the necessary uniformity in performing all the exterior duties of religion. It is impossible to perform the outward acts of religion; such as administering the sacraments, offering up sacrifice, or the like, without using some external action in doing so, that is, without using ceremonies. Now, in the choice of these, two things ought chiefly to be had in view, first, that the most decent and orderly be used; and, secondly, that all the members of the Church use the same. The majesty of God, and the sanctity of religion, require the first, in order to excite in the minds of men the proper sentiments of reverence and devotion; and experience itself shews how much the sacred ceremonies of religion conduce to this end. The uniformity in religion, so necessary for preserving union among Christians, demands the second; which has also this good effect, that one is never at a loss to join with those of his own religion, in all its duties, in whatever part of the world one may be. And this shews how necessary it is, that these ceremonies should be enjoined by the public authority of the Church; because, if it were left to every one

to use such ceremonies in religion as he pleases, neither of these two ends could be procured, but all would be confusion and disorder.

(2.) That by these outward ceremonies, we may give to Almighty God the external worship of our bodies, expressing by their means the eternal dispositions of our souls. Thus, by using the sign of the cross, we profess our faith in a crucified Saviour, and that all our hopes are founded on the merits of his death upon the cross; by kneeling, or bowing our bodies, which are postures of humility and supplication, we shew our interior dependence on Almighty God, and the respect and reverence we give him, like the humble publican in the gospel; and so of others. Now this external worship is an honour done to God, as it makes manifest to others our piety towards him, and, by our example, excites them to the same; and, when it proceeds from the heart, is highly agreeable to him, and what he requires from us; besides, the internal respect and reverence of our souls, is not a little increased by the reverential posture of our bodies, as experience teaches.

(3.) That by these outward ceremonies, the great truths and instructions of religion may be represented in a sensible and striking manner to the eyes of the people. There are great numbers of people, especially of the lower class, who are of dull and heavy understandings, who never learn to read, nor get any proper education; and, consequently, who are incapable of improving their minds with the necessary knowledge of religion, by their own study. This is at present the case with great multitudes in all nations; but was vastly more so before the invention of printing, when perhaps not one in many thousands knew how to read one letter. For all these it is most necessary to use proper ceremonies, by which the truths of

religion may become obvious and sensible to them; that, by seeing these daily performed, the truths represented by them might be the more deeply imprinted in their minds, and become familiar to them. Thus the sacred ceremonies, used in the administration of the sacraments, represent either the dispositions with which we ought to receive them, or the effects which we produce in our souls, or the obligations we contract by receiving them, as we shall see more particularly under each sacrament. Q. 32. By whom are religious ceremonies instituted ?

A. They were first instituted by God himself from the very earliest ages of the world; for we find Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam, employed in offering up sacrifices and gifts to God; Noah did the same after the flood, as did the Patriarchs after him. Now, they must have been induced to do this (as an act of external worship due to God, and which necessarily required to be done by some external action, indicating the dispositions of their souls) either by the express command of God himself, or by the light of reason impressed on their minds by his almighty hand; for we find that their doing so was agreeable to God, and met with his approbation. Besides, God Almighty, in express terms, instituted the sacred ceremony of circumcision with Abraham, as a sign of the covenant made him, and commanded it to be used by all his posterity, under pain of death, as a distinctive mark of his true religion. Of Jacob we read, that, after his mysterious dream," arising in the morning, he took the stone which he had laid under his head, and set it up for a title, pouring oil upon the top of it and he made a vow," Gen. xxviii. 18. And God highly approved of this religious ceremony used by him, saying, "I am the God of Bethel, where thou didst anoint the stone,